Fast Society, Fast Time, Fast Food

I was on Google Images today because sometimes I get really bored and look up random things. The first thing that I looked up was American fast food. This is the picture that I got.

I then looked up Indian fast food. This is the picture that I got. 

And finally, I looked up Chinese fast food. This is what I got. 

I can't speak for the Chinese, but the picture that comes up for Indian fast food, really isn't fast food in the American context. They're not full meals, they're more like snacks. You usually get these dishes on the streets, like how you get hot dogs in New York City or cheese steaks in Philadelphia  But I don't think that cheese steaks and hot dogs are classified as fast food. So what exactly is that?!?!

I think the "westernized" countries are the only ones that have this "fast food." The fact that Americans even have fast food may be a linked to how we are obsessed with time. Need to eat fast? Why don't you have some fast food? When I walk into chains like Burger King of McDonald's, I don't see people taking their time and savoring their food like they would in a classy restaurant  They're eating very quickly so they can get out and do what they need to. Most of the time, these people just pick up their food from the drive through and eat in the car. Maximum efficiency right?

That's not the case in India. People will stop by the street vendors and sit there (sometimes these guys have chairs) and eat forever. These foods are usually snack items so it's not like they're having dinner there, but you can tell that these people are really enjoying their food. The dishes may be called "fast food" but there's certainly no one in a hurry to eat. I would bet that this may be the same deal in China. 

In the United States, people are so rushed that they even have a food that they call fast food. In India, the foods that are in the pictures above are not called fast food at all. Indians don't call them fast food. They're simply snack items. I can really see how the thought of time has really become embedded into American society and culture. It's a little sad that Americans have a food that's literally named fast. That may be India's future. Maybe in the next twenty years, when I google Indian fast food again I'll get the same picture that I got for American fast food. And that thought is pretty depressing.